Further observations on the urinary excretion of water-soluble corticosteroids by normal and abnormal subjects.

Abstract

IN PREVIOUS papers, 300 preliminary observations on the urinary excretion of water-soluble corticosteroids by sick and healthy individuals have been reported (1, 2). The present communication records an additional approximately 350 measurements and summarizes studies carried out to date. The data presented indicate that this measurement serves as a reasonably reliable index of relative rates of adrenocortical 11-17-oxycorticosteroid production. Urines were collected without preservative and stored in the refrigerator. They were extracted and assayed according to a procedure described previously (3), which involves chloroform extraction of fresh urine adjusted to pH 6.5 and extensive purification of the extracts by alkali washing, partitioning between benzene and water and ketonic separation with Girard's reagent. The final measurement is based upon a copper-reduction type of assay, as used for the determination of sugar. Because this procedure appears to eliminate from the urine reducing agents other than water-soluble corticosteroids, it is apt, especially in normal and hypoadrenocortical subjects, to yield lower absolute values than are obtained by laboratories employing methods in which the urine extracts are subjected to less extensive purification. In this connection, studies reported by Tompsett and Oastler suggest that the step involving benzene-water partition is of relatively little importance and that it can be eliminated without altering results to a major extent (4).